yavasseuk



6 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

I." VAVASSEUR. QUICK FIRING GUN.

119. 451,864. Patented May 5,1891.

I 6 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. VAVASSEUR.

(No Model.)

QUICK FIRING GUN.

No. 451,864. Patented May 5, 1891.

(No Model.)

6 Sheets- -Sneet 3. J. VAVASSEUR.

QUICK FIRING GUN.

No. 451,864. Patented May 5,1891.

Sheets- Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

J. VAVASSEUR.-

QUICK FIRING GUN. No. 451,864. Patented May 5, 1891.

w m M M (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

J. VAVASSEUR. QUICK FIRING GUN.

No. 451,864. Patented May 5, 1891.

' (NO-NOEL) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6. J. VAVASSEUR.

QUICK FIRING GUN.

No; 451, 4. Patented Ma 5, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, OF LONDON, ASSIGNOR TO \V. G. ARMSTRONG, MITCHELL &(30., LIMITED, OF NEVCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND.

QUICK-FIRING GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,864, dated May 5,1891,

Application filed July 18, 1890. Serial No. 359,184. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, engineer,asubject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at London Ordnance Works, Bear Lane, Southwark,in the county of Surrey, England, have invented an Improved Mounting fora Quick-Firing Gun, of which the following is a specification.

The mounting is formed of a sole-plate or turn-table turning around afixed central pin or pivot and supported around its circumference upon ahorizontal ring of rollers. A flat upright armor-plate rises up from thesole-plate at right angles to the axis of the gun and a short distancein front of the pin or pivot. Thearmor-plate is supported in rear by twoparallel upright brackets, which rise up from the sole-plate. A cradlein which the gun is carried lies between the brackets, and the trunnionsof the cradle are supported in bearings, which the brackets carry. Themen working the gun and the mechanism are protected by the armor-plate,and also by a cylindrical shield, which, excepting an opening in rear,nearly surrounds the gun. The armor-plate extends entirely across thecylindrical shield from side to side, and the shield is fixed to itsends. Immediately in rear of the armor-plate and between the uprightbrackets which support the armor-plate and the cylindrical shield is asightingstation at one or both sides of the gun. The platform on whichthe man stands in the sighting station or stations is carried by thesole-plate or turntable. The adj ustment of the sight-bar and thetraining and elevating of the gun are done, as hereinafter described, byhand-wheels from this sighting station orstations. The gun projectsthrough an embrasure out through the armor-plate and also throughanother out through the front of the cylindrical shield. The gun iscarried as low down or near to the sole-plate as is practicableconsistently with the gun being elevated to a considerable angle whennecessary. This is of considerable importance in the case of guns oflarge size, and with this object the hydraulic and spring appaatus, bywhich the recoil is controlled and the gun returned to firing position,is carried upon the cradle above the gun in place of below it or at thesides, as is usual. The recoil apparatus consists of a cylindricalcasing parallel to the axis of the gun. The hydraulic cylinder occupiesthe rear end of the casing. A piston works in the cylinder, and its rodpasses out rearward from the cylinder and is fixed to an arm thatprojects upward from the gun. Within the front of the casing-aresprings. These at their rear end bear against the front of the hydrauliccylinder and at the front bear against a plate, which by two horizontalrods is connected to the arm which projects up fronrthe rear end of thegun. The passage of liquid from one end of the hydraulic cylinder to theother is controlled in any ordinary manner.

The sighting is done through a vertical slot cut through the upperpartof the armor-plate, so that the opening is high above the gun. Thefront and back sights are both mounted upon a sight-bar, which is madeto project outward through the slot, so that the back sight may bewithin or in close proximity to the slot and a large range of viewobtained with but a comparatively narrow slot. The sight-bar is mountedupon the top of the eradle in such a manner that it can be inclined toit to any desired extent. The roof over the portion of the cylindricalshield which is in front of the armor-plate is below thesighting-opening, so that the range of vision is not obstructed by it.

In place of the central pivot the mounting may be arranged to turn abouta front pivot; but the central pivot arrangement is usually preferable,as it affords better protection to the men working the gun.

Figure l of the drawings annexed is a side elevation, partly in section,of the mounting. Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the same. Fig. 3 is apart back view. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing a modified way ofcarrying the sightbar. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 6 is aside elevation with part of the shieldswiveling sole-plate, togetherwith the removed shield of the armor-plate, the vertical brackets, andthe gearing carried by them. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the same,showing also the central pin or pivot and the gearing for turning thesole-plate around this pivot. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same with aportion of the upper part of the outer shield cut away. Fig. 9 is across-section to a larger scale through the line a b, Fig. 6. Fig. '10is a plan, and Fig. 11 a side elevation, of the cradle; Fig. 12, a plan;and Fig. 13 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same with i thegun lyingin it.

Fig. 14 is a cross-section on the line a d, Fig. 10; and Fig. 15, acrosssection on the line e f.

A is a bed-plate, which is securely bolted to any deck. A central pin orpivot stands up from'the bed-plate and around it is a circularroller-track, on which rests a ring of rollers B.

O is the sole-plate or turn-table resting on the rollers. The centralpin or pivot rises up through the center of the sole-plate.

D D are clips which prevent the sole-plate rising from the bed-plate.

E is the armor-plate,which stands up from the sole-plate.

F F are the two vertical brackets which support it at the rear.

G'is the cylindrical shield surrounding the mounting, except at therear.

H is the gun, and I the cradle, in which it it can slide endwise.

I are the trunnionsof the cradle They turn in bearings 1 carried by thebrackets.

J is a cylindrical casing formed on the top of the cradle above the gun.

K is a hydraulic cylinder occupying the rear end of this casing.

K is the piston-rod extending rearward and secured to an arm H, whichstands upward from the rear end of the gun.

L L are coiled springs within the front end of the casing J.

L is a central support extending through the center of the coils of thesprings.

L is a plate which bears against the front end of the springs. A rod Lextending from the support L, passes through a hole formed through thecenter of this plate, and a nut is screwed onto the end of the rod. Thisprevents the springs from expanding too far and allows of their beingtaken out from the cylinder without permitting them to becomeuncompressed.

L is a plate bearing against the plate L It has two lugs projecting fromit which pass out through slots in the sides of the casing J fromtheselugs. When the recoil takes place, the plate is drawn back by thegun and the springs are compressed. After the recoil the gun is movedforward again, as usual, by the springs. The running forward ispreferably controlled, as has before been done and as is shown in Fig.13, by a tapering spindle fixed to the fore end of the hydrauliccylinder passing into the piston-rod, which is made hollow, and olferingresistance to the free escape of liquid from the hollow of thepiston-rod. To control the recoil, the piston has preferably a notch cutfrom its circumference, and a rib fixed along the interior of thecylinder passes through the notch and by its form regulates tion on itsunder side which enters a corre-' sponding groove formed along thecurved top of the'arrn or projection M which stands up from the top ofthe cradle, and in this way the sight-bar can be inclined to the cradleto any desired extent, and so any desired elevation can be given to thegun, as the longitudinal axis of the gun is always concentric with thelongitudinal axis of the cradle. When not in use, it can be drawn backalo'ngt'h'e dovetail groove in the slide M, so as not to project throughthe sighting-openin g. When inuse, it is thrust forward until therear-sight comes within the opening. Movement can be given to the slideM by a curved toothed rack upon it gearing into a pinion M which can beturned by a small hand-wheel M on its axis.

N is the platform of the sighting-station on the left-hand side of thegun. ing on this platform can not only adjust and use the sights, butalso train and give the re quired elevation tothe gun.

The training is effected. by turning the hand-wheel O, and the elevationis given by turning the hand-wheel P or P The axes of these wheels arecarried in bearings by one of the upright brackets F. The hand-wheel Ois at the upper end of a vertical axis 0', which at its lower end givesmotion by bevelwheels 0 to a horizontal axis 0 (see Figs. 6 and 8,)which passes through the bracket and on its inner end carries a worm O,that gears with a worm-wheel O fixed, as usual, by a frictionalconnection or clutch of ordinary construction to the central pinor pivotwhich stands up from the bed-plate A. The handwheel P gives motion bybevelwheels P to an inclined axis P 011 which is a worm P that gearsinto a worm-wheel P which by a friction-clip P is held fast to an axisP, on which is a pinion P, that gears into a curved toothed rack, whichis fixed to the'gun-cradle I. The axis P also carries a hand-wheel P onits rear end, so that elevation can be given to the gun either byturning the hand-wheel P or the hand-wheel P The man 'stand- In place ofthe sights being carried by a bar that can be slid backward or forwardalong a curved arm, as shown at Fig. 1, the bar may be carried by ablock or tubular bearing that is jointed to an arm that stands out fromthe saddle, and may be set to any desired inclination by means of an armextending rearward from the block, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In thesefigures M is the sight-bar capable of being slidden back ward in a blockor tubularbearing Q, jointed at Q to an arm M which stands up from thecradle. Q is an arm extending rearward from the bearing Q and carryingat its end a small pinion Q to gear into a curved toothed rack Q fixedto the cradle or inner end of the projecting arm M so that by turningthe pinion in one or other direction the sight-bar can be set at anydesired inclination. \Vhen carrying the sight-bar in this way, the backsight may conveniently be on the bearing Q, and the front sight onlyonthe bar. hen not in use, the bar is slid back in the bearing Q, so asto be out of the way, or both sights may be on the bar and the wholearranged to slide back for removal from the hearing. The arm M whichstands up from the cradle, can also be slid backward, so that when thesights on either side of the gun are not in use the sighting-aperturemay be closed.

hat I claim is 1. In combination with a turn-table having an armor-platerising up from and passing across it and having two parallel bracketssupporting the armor-plate at the rear and a cylindrical shieldextending around the gun,

except at the rear, and a gun-cradle lying between the braekets, withits trunnions supported in bearings carried by the brackets, a sightingstation or stations at the sideor sides of the gun Within thecylindrical shield and just in rear 01": the armor-plate, and trainingand elevating mechanism Worked by hand- Wheels from this sightingstation or stations.

2. I11 combination with a turn-table having an armor-plate rising upfrom it, in which is a port-hole through which the gun projects, andwith a gun carried Within a cradle turning on trunnions just in rear ofthearmorplate, a sight-bar carried by the cradle and projecting outthrough a separate sightopening formed through the armor-plate, so thatthe back sight may be in close proximity to the sighting opening.

3. The combination of the gun, the cradle in which it lies, and asight-bar carried on the top part of the cradle and capable of beinginclined to it to any desired extent.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR.

Witnesses:

WALTER J. SKERTEN, T. F. BARNES, Boflrofli Gracechm'ch Street, London,E. O.

